Unless one is born again, he is not able to see the Kingdom of God

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Amen, amen I say to you, unless one is born again, he is not able to see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

The more I deal with those who are adamantly against the fact that God’s Word is absolute truth as they claim the correct way to understand the gospel is as if it is some sort of smorgasbord or rotating buffet in which the sound doctrines taught to us from the Bible are simply one of untold numbers of various ways to God, the more amazed I become at the abject spiritual blindness exhibited by them. These same people want an understanding of the Bible that is loose and easy to hedge. Why? It is so they can include every person on planet earth as on “a” path to God regardless of status as a Christian or not. This multi-path concept to God is a perfect seedbed for the apostate authors such as Brian McLaren who wrote A Generous Orthodoxy. McLaren and those like him are rethinking “Christianity” so that it becomes the all-inclusive container for all religions. The end-product of this rethinking of Christianity is not Christianity at all. It is an open-ended, man-made false religion that has as its foundation the philosophies of men, not the Word of God.

Fortunately, we do have God’s Word and in it we have sound doctrine that teaches us what the real gospel is and what it does.

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1 translated from the NA28 Greek text)

All humans since the fall of Adam (Genesis 3) except one were born dead (νεκροὺς) in trespasses (παραπτώμασιν) and sins (ἁμαρτίαις). That one was the Lord Jesus Christ. The rest of us were from that moment we were conceived in our mother’s wombs dead (νεκροὺς) in trespasses (παραπτώμασιν and sins (ἁμαρτίαις. What does this mean? This is tied very closely to John 3:3 which I placed at the top of this post. The term “Born Again” in Greek is γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν which should be translated as “born from above” in the context of what our Lord was speaking about. The “from above” part (ἄνωθεν) can also mean “again,” as I said, the context of the rest of our Lord’s dialogue in John 3 shows us that the correct emphasis here is on being born from above, that is, born according to heavenly things rather than earthly things. This is, of course, regeneration. So actually our Lord was saying in John 3:3, “…unless one is ‘regenerated’ he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We see this clearly in the following passage.

4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:4-7 ESV)

All truly in Christ being, therefore, on the ONLY path to God as Christians, are those who according to God’s goodness and loving kindness, our Saviour appeared and He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit. God poured out the Holy Spirit on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour so that being justified by His grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. How much more clear can it be said my brethren? No works of righteousness by us preceded the washing of regeneration. The prerequisite for this washing of regeneration is God’s own mercy. This regeneration is the only way for anyone to become saved because all humans since the fall of Adam (Genesis 3) except one were born dead (νεκροὺς) in trespasses (παραπτώμασιν) and sins (ἁμαρτίαις). The word νεκροὺς is used to describe the nature of a corpse. This death is due to our living in trespasses (παραπτώμασιν) and sins (ἁμαρτίαις). This is a sobering reminder to us all of our total sinfulness and lostness from which we have been redeemed. The word “in” in this phrase is very important for it shows us that we were not dead because of our sinful acts, but because of our sinful nature (cf Matthew 12:35; 15:18, 19). We see this clearly in in vv2-3.

2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:2-3 ESV)

From this passage we see that it is the living this life in the power of our sin nature that makes us by nature children of wrath because in this we are following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. This is, of course, Satan, our enemy.

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV)

Paul’s presentation of the gospel here is masterful. He gives us the bleak portrait of the human situation then gives us ὁ δὲ θεὸς (But the God!). This is because our salvation is totally in His hands. We cannot do one thing to save ourselves. But God is rich in mercy and through His great love, which He loved us, and we being dead in our transgressions, are made alive together in the Christ (by favor we are being delivered) and raised up together, and seated together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, that He should demonstrate in the coming ages the exceeding riches of His favor, in graciousness upon us in Christ Jesus. The ground of our salvation is God’s love and mercy, and its goal is the promotion of His grace and kindness.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV)

These two verses are a great parallel to Titus 3:4-7 (above). It is by what that all truly in Christ have been saved? It is by grace (χάριτί) through (διὰ) faith (πίστεως). We are saved by God’s underserved favor through faith. This is important. The word διὰ translated here as ‘through’ refers to a channel or conduit, which in this case is faith, which is a reliance on Christ alone for salvation. This reliance is the conduit through which God’s grace saves us. The next phrase, ‘And this is not your own doing; it is the gift (δῶρον) of God’ refers to the entire previous statement of salvation, not only the grace but also the faith. Although people are required to believe for salvation, even that faith is part of the gift (δῶρον) of God which saves and cannot be exercised by one’s own power. God’s grace is preeminent in every aspect of salvation (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16).

2 thoughts on “Unless one is born again, he is not able to see the Kingdom of God”

It’s always a joyful refreshment each morning to read your efforts on our behalf, towards a better, more full and rich understanding of God’s Holy Word! Thank you for your faithfulness Brother Mike. What gifts we receive on a daily basis and yet not once deserve a single one of them. I appreciate the bold reminder. I’m praying for you as you stand strong for our Lord. – Heidi

Therefore, I urge you brothers through the compassions of God to present your bodies as living, holy sacrifices, well pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service. And do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may discern the will of God, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. (Colossians 1:24-26 ESV)

The way of escape

"To believe that He will preserve us is, indeed, a means of preservation. God will certainly preserve us, and make a way of escape for us out of the temptation, should we fall. We are to pray for what God has already promised. Our requests are to be regulated by His promises and commands. Faith embraces the promises and so finds relief." - John Owen

How to be free from bondage to our flesh and temptation

"If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation. Let this be one aspect of our daily intercession: 'God, preserve my soul, and keep my heart and all its ways so that I will not be entangled.' When this is true in our lives, a passing temptation will not overcome us. We will remain free while others lie in bondage." - John Owen

Meta

About me

My name is Mike Ratliff. I am a δοῦλος (slave) of the Κύριον ᾿Ιησοῦν Χριστόν (Lord Jesus Christ.) I have been a Bible teacher since the late 1980's. I am currently learning Koine Greek, which I began in 1992 and will continue to do so until the Lord takes me home. I am Reformed in my theology because I recognize that God is Sovereign over all things. I write these posts as God directs. I am also part of the discernment team at Christian Research Network.

OTHERS MAY, YOU CANNOT

by G. D. Watson

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25

If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.

The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.

God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.

So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.

God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.